Chapter 3: a Wolf in the Fold

[Breila]

"Back to camp, quickly" Hedra tells the women. "But don't run. That thing can't run fast, and it needs to cross the river first which might even wash some of it away. And we can't afford to lose the food we've gathered."

Hedra hurries among the women, trying to distribute the load so that everybody can walk at a brisk pace, and leads them back.

[Talyn]

Wolf blinks and looks down at the children talking to him. "Just curious about some of our... fellows." he says and his jaw sets slightly as his gaze quickly sweeps all nearby.

He blinks and looks back at Kara. "Have you seen anyone doing things they are trying to hide?" he inquires casually. "Or anything that looks out of the ordinary?"

[Ismaels-Legacy]

((Sorry for the lengthy delay))

The shambler seems undaunted by the water once it realizes that it has easy prey on the opposite side of the bank. They're not even running and screaming! They almost WANT to be eaten!

The zombie's form is highly emaciated and has rotted away to bone in several places. It looks like it has been a while since it's had a meal of any sort. Chances are the winters have not been kind to it, either. Apparently it had been caught in several freeze and thaws before being put into unwilling hibernation during the heavy snows. Carith stands ready at the opposite bank, just on the edge of the muddy portion so that it would have unstable footing when it emerged, yet she would have both stability AND the high ground. Her tattooed arms flex, kneading the handle of her well-used axe beneath her knuckles. When the shambler is about chest deep in the river, the creature starts to stagger and finally fall, washed away by the current. Carith watches it flow away, unable to regain it's footing. She wondered how far downstream it would go before it finally came to a stop.

Hedra has managed to keep most of the people calm. Some of them, those who have not yet seen the walking dead, began to panic, but after a few soothing words on behalf of her god, Hedra was able to calm them and get everyone back to camp in an orderly fashion. They weren't able to gather much food but at this point, any food is good food.

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Slade and Dee back-track along the wagon-trail. Searching for signs of anything out of the ordinary. They quickly make it back to the camp from the previous night (The wagon train moves slowly with that many people) and they spend a few moments calmly surveying the scene while they catch their breaths. The immediate area is pretty standard for an encampment of this size, so they decide to search in a wider radius. Last time they did this, it was dusk and a lot of information was lost in the gloom, but this time, with adequate lighting, they are easily able to distinguish footprints well beyond the perimeter of the the camp. Someone had been circling them and flanking them in the night. There's also animal prints mixed in with the human prints, so it looks like wolves may be living with the humans or following them, hoping for an easy meal.

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"I haven't noticed much until today" Grace says after some contemplation. "The announcement shook people to the core. Immediately afterward, many of the women left to gather roots and a handful of the men left to hunt. There were also a pair of scruffy looking men who went back the way we came on the road." She seems on the verge of tears at this point. "Who would steal food from all these people? There's children here! Elders! They shouldn't have to suffer like this!"

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Callan is a little off-put when Dee apparently ignores his call and instead leaves with the other rogue. They're back-tracking the wagon train. Curious, that. Certainly something to be aware of for the future. Meanwhile there's still plenty of people around camp to chat with. Namely Ignatius and the mage, Wolf. He's certainly been overly mysterious and has apparently been quite moody since the food has run short (Which is funny considering he never seems to eat much. Not that he ever misses a meal, but his portions tend to be small and frequent).

[Jenara]

(Ooc: not quite sure what we are going to do now.)

[Breila]

Suddenly remembering something, Hedra looks for Dorir and/or Carson. When she find them, she tells them: "I'm sorry I come to you this late, but when I did the perimeter check before fighting the treant, I found this near where the guard disappeared." She shows them the piece of fabric. "His neighbour said he left his post to go behind a bush as if to relieve himself, but never came back".

[Stik]

Callan watches the two rogues walk off, then shrugs. If they are the thieves, or in league with them, so be it. What's done is done, and he wasn't about to break a sweat on a fool's errand. He can go through the motions of investigating right here, if need be.
He approaches Ignatius' wagon and pounds on the side with the butt of his spear. "Hey, Shorty, get out here! Front and center. People are hungry, so I need you to tell me which of these nags you no longer need, seeing as you've let your wagon get so much lighter."

[Jenara]

Carith returns after Hedra, looking concerned, "River took it, barely had a chance, I'd say it had been around for quite sometime." she says as she approaches Dorir or what ever group Hedra is with. "We have no idea how many more are out there. Look we are sitting targets, food or no food we need to move."

Hefting her axe she grabs Hedra's arm. "We have to move.."

[Ismaels-Legacy]

Dorir looks at Hedra as she hands over the cloth. The fabric is lightly dyed blue but is heavily stained with the dark brown of old, dried blood. "I don't recognize this cloth. I don't recall anyone wearing that shade of blue in the caravan. This is mighty curious...." He trails off into thought as Carith approaches. Her words stir him from his reverie. "How many did you say there were? One? Old?"

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Ignatius opens the slide on his door and looks out. When he sees who is knocking, he opens the hatch and pokes his head out. "Carson said to cooperate with you." He doesn't really follow up with anything else, but when the silence stretches on he shuffles about a bit and says, "The wagon may be lighter but we need to preserve our rate of travel. Given time we will have to eat a horse or mule, I'm sure, but for now, I beg you to be merciful. When the time comes, though, there's a nag named Gretchen that is on her last legs. We've been using her to carry light loads and the occasional child or infirm. At this stage, though, they will need to prepare to walk."

[Jenara]

"Yes just one, that in itself is strange.." She pulls herself away from Hedra a moment, turning to Dorir "What is this and the clothing?" She asks, apparently interested.

[Breila]

Hedra looks at the cloth again. "Can any of you tell how old that blood is? It was already dry when I found the cloth, but of course, that was half a day after the disappearance of the guard, so it didn't surprise me.
Is there someone in the caravan who knows about cloth? A former tailor or weaver or cloth merchant? They might know this type of fabric and who might wear it."

[Stik]

"You know, Iggy, you're alright. You came right out and told me you're only talking to me because Carson told you to, then you turned totally pragmatic when the situation called for it. And here I thought I could shake you up by threatening your horse team." Callan smiles a genuine smile, amused at the turn of events.

"In any case, we need to solve this mystery. So, how about you tell me how a the entire store of food can get stolen out the wagon you were locked inside of? I mean, give me some theories, because at this point, I have to tell you I am puzzled. All I can come up with is that it was an inside job."

[Ismaels-Legacy]

Dorir looks to Hedra and Carith, both, and finally says "Perhaps you should show me where you had this encounter. Something seems a bit off with this scenario." He frowns, furrowing what parts of his face you can see beneath his beard. "Not that I doubt your word, but something strange is going on here."

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Ignatius fidgets about a little, dancing from foot to foot, wringing his hands. Finally he unlatches the gate to the wagon and opens it so that Callan can see the insides for the first time. "I never let anyone in here, but if you suspect an inside job, perhaps you should first be inside." He dances slowly away from the entrance so Callan can climb in if he chooses to. The inside of the wagon is an ingenious system of storage ranging from wooden boxes and shelves built directly into the walls of the wagon itself, to elaborately woven nets dangling from the ceiling for overhead storage. As Callan looks about, Iggy stamps his foot twice and a small latch pops up from the floor of the wagon. Reaching down, Iggy opens a trap door that reveals a hollowed out space for large storage. Presumably, this is where the grain was stored since that seems to be where the largest collection of mill-dust is gathered. "Don't think I'm being soft on Gretchen. I hate that nag." After a few awkward moments he follows up with, "She bit me once....."

[Jenara]

"The damn thing just.. Washed away, I mean its great because the others escaped." She shrugs "But I dunno, something felt wrong.." Of course it felt wrong, she'd barely recovered and she was out fighting Walkers.

[Kafen]

Dee kneels and takes a look at the tracks. "Well, shall we head back or follow the tracks?" He asks softly. "I say we follow the tracks if they circle towards the camp. If not, we should stick with the camp. " Inspecting the tracks closely, he tries to see if they are on top of the human prints as a general rule.

[Breila]

"Yes of course we can show you the place" Hedra tells Dorir.

As they move away from the camp, Hedra sings softly, almost under her breath. If Dorir is close enough, he can understand she is praying for keen eyes and a quick mind, promising to fight valiantly for the ones entrusted to them.